India, US, Brazil can get ahead of COVID-19 pandemic: WHO

The World Health Organisation said that the United States, Brazil and India, which are all suffering fast rises in coronavirus cases, can still get ahead of the pandemic.

Dr Mike Ryan, head of the WHO emergencies programme
Dr Mike Ryan, head of the WHO emergencies programme. Photo courtesy: WHO

They are “powerful, able, democratic countries who have tremendous internal capacities to deal with this disease”, said Dr Mike Ryan, head of the WHO emergencies programme, in a Geneva briefing.

India saw a record single-day spike of 49,310 coronavirus cases taking the country's tally to 1,287,945, while the recoveries surged to 817,208.

The death toll mounted to 30,601 with 740 new fatalities reported in a span of 24 hours. The death toll is the sixth-biggest behind the US, Brazil, Britain, Mexico and Italy.

US coronavirus cases exceeded 4 million, with over 2,600 new cases recorded every hour on average, the highest rate in the world.